The Baltimore City Council is the legislative branch that governs the City of Baltimore and its nearly 700,000 citizens. Baltimore has fourteen single-member City Council districts and representatives are elected for a four-year term. To qualify for a position on the Council, a person must be twenty-one years of age, a registered voter, a U.S. citizen, and a resident of Baltimore and the district. If a position on the Council is vacated, a new representative from the Council District is elected by a majority vote of the Council.[1] As of 2007 the annual salary for city council member was $57,000.[2]
The Baltimore City Council holds its regular meetings on alternate Monday evenings on the fourth floor of the Baltimore City Hall. The presiding officer is the President of the City Council who is elected at-large.[3] The compensation for the President is (as of 2009) $100,450 a year.[4] The Council has 7 standing committees, all of which must have at least three members.
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In 1729, the Maryland General Assembly authorized the erection of Baltimoretown on the north side of the Patapsco and appointed a group of commissioners to govern it. In 1797, the General Assembly granted a charter that created the office of Mayor and City Council. The Council was divided into 2 branches, and membership required heavy property qualifications. During its early history the council was composed exlcusivley of white, non-Jewish males.[5] In 1890 Harry Sythe Cummings was elected to the council, becoming the first black elected official in the state of Maryland. For forty years after 1890, six different black Republicans won elections to the council. Before 1918, the General Assembly enacted all local laws affecting the city, since then the Mayor and City Council assumed those responsibilities. In the November election of 1922, the voters through petition replaced a two-branch council with a unicameral one and Baltimore abolished its old system of small wards, replacing them with much larger districts. In 1943, Ella Bailey became the first woman elected to the City Council.
In 2003, as a result of the ballot initiative, Question P, the Baltimore City Council went from six three-member districts to 14 single-member districts or from 18 members to 14 members. The council president continued to be elected at-large.
The records of the City Council, dates ranging from 1797-1987, reside at the Baltimore City Archives in Record Group BRG16[6]. The collection includes administrative files, volumes of proceedings, joint council session reports, correspondence, ordinances and resolutions, committee bills, hearing schedules, and other records.
| District | Born | Member | Party | Elected | Primary Committee |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baltimore | James B. Kraft | Democratic | Judiciary and Legislative Investigations (Chair) | |
| 2 | Baltimore | Nicholas D'Adamo, Jr. | Democratic | 1987 | Budget and Appropriations |
| 3 | Baltimore | Robert W. Curran | Democratic | 1995 | Executive Appointments (Chair) |
| 4 | Baltimore | Bill Henry | Democratic | 2007 | Education |
| 5 | Baltimore | Rochelle "Rikki" Spector | Democratic | 1977 | Land Use and Transportation |
| 6 | Baltimore | Sharon Green Middleton | Democratic | Urban Affairs and Aging | |
| 7 | Baltimore | Belinda Conaway | Democratic | 2004 | Executive Appointments |
| 8 | Helen Holton | Democratic | Taxation and Finance | ||
| 9 | Pete Welch | Democratic | Urban Affairs and Aging (Chair) | ||
| 10 | Baltimore | Edward Reisinger | Democratic | Land Use and Transportation (Chair) | |
| 11 | Havre de Grace | William H. Cole IV | Democratic | 2007 | Taxation and Finance (Vice Chair) |
| 12 | Baltimore | Carl Stokes | Democratic | 2010[7] | Budget and Appropriations (Chair) |
| 13 | Warren Branch | Democratic | 1994 | Budget and Appropriations | |
| 14 | Providence | Mary Pat Clarke | Democratic | 1975 | Education (Chair) |
| At-Large | Baltimore | Bernard "Jack" Young | Democratic | 2010[8] | Council President |
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